Spartans
by ricojohn
Summary: This is a Halo crossover, my computer is being stupid and won't let me set it up officially. Any way, Percy is in the Spartan program being trained to be a Special Forces Recon. His new partner is a certain Grey eyed Spartan. What will happen as they grow up and fight side by side from boot camp through the covenant war? Can they even survive? Read and find out! M to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

A MESSAGE FROM THE AUTHOR: Sorry I've been away. I'm trying to get back into my writing grove.

Chapter 1: Boot Camp

POV: Spartan 333

Every life has at least one moment that changes who we are forever. For most Spartans it is when we are assigned numbers, rather than names. For me though, it was when I met her.

I was twelve years old and just came out of augmentation. A sergeant came to me and told me I was selected to be part of a recon unit. So I would be brought to boot camp and trained with another Spartan that would become my partner in the field.

So I said goodbye to my old training squad. They all wished me luck with puns about my nickname. My number was Spartan 333 and they say luck comes in threes. I have three, threes in my name. To them my name was "Lucky".

Before I was kidnaped and augmented my name was Percy. But I didn't understand the point of holding onto that name, I would never get that life back anyway.

So I climbed onto the pelican and was brought to the boot camp for Special Forces Recon, called Camp Half-Blood.

When I got off the ship I was met by a man in a wheel chair. He seemed friendly enough but I had been a solder since I was five. Always trained and disciplined. I was more rebellious than most Spartans but that didn't mean I couldn't stand at attention.

"Welcome to Camp Half-Blood" The man greeted me. "I'm Colonel Chiron. You will be staying in barracks three with your partner Spartan 311"

I nodded.

"Before you settle in however we should get you some armor and a weapon." He continued. "So follow me and I'll get you all set up."

And so I followed him to the armory where Spartans were making armor and weapons. Spartan 235, also known as beckandorf (sorry if miss spelled) set me up with armor. I chose a standard armor set that was painted blue with a black visor.

Once I had my armor on I went over to the weapons wrack and picked out an AR and a combat knife. I strapped the knife to my left side, near the lower aria of my chest. Once I was satisfied with my setup I followed the Colonel to my Barrack.

"Well, here you are." He told me as we approached the Barack amongst others in a horse shoe shape. "Just head on in, Spartan 311 should be in there."

I nodded and entered the building.

Inside were about ten Spartans in full combat armor, each loading their weapons.

"What's going on?" I asked out of surprise.

They glanced up at me before continuing their tasks. One however stood up off of the bed and walked over to me.

"You must be the new guy." She said, extending her right hand for me to shake.

I took it and nodded.

"Are you Spartan 311?" I asked her.

She tilted her head when I spoke. I couldn't see her face through the helmet but I got the feeling she wasn't too happy.

"The name's Annabeth." She told me. "What's yours?"

"Spartan 3…." I began but she cut me off.

"The Colonel told me your number." She said in an annoyed tone. "But I didn't ask for your number I asked for your name."

I studied her for a second before responding. She looked intimidating in her storm grey recon armor with a grey visor. Her whole setup was grey other than a brown owl that was spray-painted on the top right part of her helmet.

"Well?" She demanded, clearly annoyed.

"My old squad called me Lucky." I told her.

"You're not going to tell me your name?" She asked.

I shook my head.

"I haven't gone by my old name since I was about five." I told her. "The person I am today, it would just feel wrong to use that name."

I could feel my face turning red so I was grateful for my helmet's dark visor.

Annabeth nodded when I spoke.

"So why Lucky?" She asked me.

I chuckled.

"They say all luck, good or bad, comes in threes." I told her. "My number is triple threes."

She chuckled at that.

"Alright then Lucky." She began nodding. "Start prepping for combat. Capture the flag tonight and Barracks three hasn't lost in over a month, don't kill our streak."

I nodded.

"I'll do my best." I told her. "But I don't have any recon training yet."

She just chuckled.

"Think of it as a trial by fire." She said. "If you don't get shot you might stand a chance in this place."

She then led me to the bed next to hers.

"This one's yours." She told me. "Drop your non-combat gear and load up."

I nodded and proceeded to load my AR while sitting on the edge of my bed.

"So, you're an Assault Rifle man?" She asked me. "Interesting choice."

"And why is that?" I asked her.

"We have access to any weapon we want and you pick the most ordinary one that's not even the most effective in most situations."

"I could say the same to you." I pointed out as I gestured to the pistol in her hand. "What's with the pistol?"

"I prefer CQB to open fields." She told me. "Plus I find the pistol is more versatile."

She then put the pistol on her right thigh and pulled out a second one and proceeded to load it.

"You ever do a combat jump before?" She asked me after a few minutes.

"Only practice ones." I told her. "Why?"

"We're deploying by pelican tonight." She told me. "Fifteen hundred feet up at five hundred MPH."

I nodded.

"Sounds like fun." I said, trying to keep the fear out of my voice.

I always hated flying in general, but combat jumps like this scared the shit out of me. Falling through the open sky, being held there by a jetpack. My old CO used to say I was ballzy for always deploying my jetpack at the last second but the fact was I only did it to minimalize the time I spent in the air. It just always felt unnatural to me. Like I was never supposed to do it.

Time Break!

The pelican shuddered as it hit another pocket of turbulence. I wanted to scream but I bit down on my lip instead.

'Dam it Lucky!' I thought. 'Get it together, you've done this before!'

But this thought didn't help me to calm down when every shutter and groan of the aircraft terrorized me.

"Thirty seconds till drop!" The squad leader, Luke, Called out. "Get ready!"

Suddenly the door in the back of the ship opened.

"Go! Go! Go!" Luke ordered as two by two the whole squad jumped out into the black night air.

As the two lines approached the door I looked over to see Annabeth next to me, ready to jump.

"You ok?" She asked me.

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak calmly.

"Are you afraid of heights?" She asked. "You haven't said a word and you seem very tense."

I was about to say no when she cut me off.

"Look, Lucky." She said. "We're partners so we have to watch out for each other. Help each other where we are week and use each other's strengths. So if you're afraid of heights just tell me, I'll get you through this."

I hesitate before I nod.

"I'm about to shit myself." I confide in her.

She nods and offers me her hand.

"We're next to jump." She says as I take her hand. "On three we jump together. I'm right here, ok?"

I nod as she starts to count.

"One, two, three!"

And so I step out the back of the aircraft and begin to fall.

"Fire your pack on three!" Annabeth yells to me through the mic. "One, two, three!" She fires her pack but I don't.

I continue to fall, using my normal strategy of firing at the last second so I spend less time in the sky.

"Lucky!" She screams after me. "Fire your pack!"

I wait another second before I fire my jet pack. It stops my fall two feet above the ground.

Once my pack shuts off I collapse to my knees, breathing hard and trying to calm down.

I hear footsteps in back of me and my first thought was that it might be an enemy that saw me land so I whip around as I pull out my assault rifle, ready to shoot but I stop as I recognize the owl on the helmet of the Spartan emerging from the trees.

"God dam it Lucky!" Annabeth screams at me. "I thought I just saw you die!"

"Sorry." I mumble, very embarrassed. Once again I was grateful for the armor.

"Are you hurt?" She asked.

"No." I say. "I always do that in jumps. I can't stand being in the sky. It messes with my head so I wait on deploying my pack until I'm close to the ground."

"Close to the ground?" Annabeth asks in disbelief. "You deployed you're pack at fifty feet. You're lucky you even lived! You know dam well you're supposed to deploy at onehanded and ten feet to prevent injury's."

She sighs.

"Please don't pull that stunt again." She says after a minute. "Now come on, the squad's waiting for us."

I nod and get up to follow her.

"Stay on guard," She warns me. "Remember we're behind enemy lines. They could be anywhere."

'Great!' I thought sarcastically. 'This is going to be fun!'

A MESSAGE FROM THE AUTHOR: Well? Not bad after a Hiatus right? Post a review if you want more of this and yes, I do intend to update my other stories.


	2. Chapter 2

A MESSAGE FROM THE AUTHOR: To inspired not to keep writing this. Updates on my other stories will come though.

Enjoy!

Chapter 2: Camp Life

POV: Lucky

As I followed Annabeth through the dark woods I could hear a slight rustling in back of me. I spun around and raised my rifle, ready to shoot but was met with the butt of a rifle instead. I fell to the ground as Annabeth whipped around and raised her pistols.

I expected her to shoot but she just sighed and lowered them.

"Took you long enough." She said boardly as I tried to figure out what was going on.

"Yah well we ran into some issues." Spoke the Spartan that had attacked me.

Annabeth nodded.

"What the hell is going on?" I demanded.

"Sorry kid." The Spartan that attacked me said as he held out his hand for me to take. "Didn't recognize you in the dark."

I took his hand and he helped me up. It was at this point that I recognized the red and yellow armor. Spartan 345, Will, was in the pelican with us when we jumped. I remember Annabeth telling me he was a really good medic.

Soon though a Spartan in all black emerged from the shadows.

"Come on guys." The kid spoke. "We have to meet the squad."

"Relax, Nico." Will said. "We still have ten minutes to get to the rallying point and it's only a four minute walk away."

"He's right though." Annabeth cut in. "We're exposed right now and the rest of the squad should be there. I don't like being out in the open like this."

We all nodded and began to walk in a standard defensive formation that represented a diamond from above. Nico was on point with Will on the left flank and me on the right. Annabeth was bringing up the rear to make sure we weren't being surrounded. We were all spaced out about ten feet apart from one another so if we get ambushed they can't take us all out in one move.

"Rallying point up ahead." Nico whispered through the mic.

As we entered a small clearing I saw the rest of our squad waiting.

"Good to see you made it." Luke commented. "I thought I saw you die up there, Lucky."

"Sorry about that sir." I answered, rubbing the back of my neck awkwardly.

"It's fine." He told me. "But try not to go on any more adrenalin kicks, we don't need any dead Spartans."

I nodded, hoping that Annabeth wouldn't blab about my fear of heights.

As the squad gathered around to hear the plan for attack I caught sight of movement near a tree to my right.

"Is everyone here?" I whispered to Annabeth, who had joined the circle. I was hoping she would say no so I could assume the movement was just another squad member.

She nodded.

I could feel my blood run cold at the thought of what was about to happen.

"Get down!" I screamed as I raised my rifle and fired at the tree I saw movement near.

The squad scattered and took cover behind various trees, rocks, and dirt mounds.

"How many are there?" Luke screamed as I dropped to one knee and swapped out the mag for a fresh one.

"I only saw one but there could be more." I answered.

"Get to cove, Lucky." Annabeth told me. "We got your back."

I nodded and began to move as fire erupted from multiple directions. It felt like we were surrounded and the thermal scans on my HUD supported that thought.

"Lucky, Annabeth, Try to push north east into that gap in there lines and out flank them!" Luke shouted over the mic. "Everyone ells, hold your ground and try and draw attention off them!"

And so I checked my HUD for Barings and sprinted to the gap that Luke mentioned.

Once there I managed to take cover behind a rock and could see Annabeth stacked up behind a tree to my right.

On the other side of our cover was two Spartans wearing silver armor sporting DMRs as they shot over the fallen log at our squad. We were looking at their right side.

"I got eyes on two tangos." I told Annabeth over the mic.

"I'm going to flank around there rear." Annabeth told me. "You light them up and try to take the heat off of me."

I nodded and raised my rifle as Annabeth began to move I pulled my trigger and felt the rifle spray rounds down range and watched as my amo counter rapidly dropped from 32.

One of the two Spartans spun around and started to shoot at me while the other ran for cover from the on slot of bullets. Eventually the Spartan I was shooting at got clipped in the chest three times and went down. I checked my amo counter and saw it said 10.

I debated swapping mags when I noticed the other one was behind a dirt hill ahead of me and aiming at me. So di ducked just as the Spartan opened fire on me.

I could hear the wiz of projectiles flying all around me and slowly chipping away at the rock I was behind.

Then I heard a different gunshot and all the firing around me stopped.

"Nice work, Lucky." I heard Annabeth say over the mic. "I took out the other one. Luke, it's safe to move this way. Lucky and I are going to out flank the rest of them." She paused before continuing. "Be careful though, its barracks 8 that's attacking."

"Shit." I heard Luke mutter through the mic as I moved to meet up with Annabeth. "Let's get out of this field squad!"

As they moved I followed Annabeth.

"What's wrong with Barracks 8?" I asked her as we moved to find the rest of the tangos.

"They're known as the hunters around here." She said. "A squad of marksmen, mostly DMRs but they have some talented snipers." She paused. "They're also ruthless, especially towards men."

"Why?" I asked her.

She just chuckled.

"The colonel couldn't think of any where to put them so he made a whole squad of these man hating Spartans just because they kept assaulting all the boys in their squads." She said.

I was a little surprised by this but didn't say anything because I could see two more of them up ahead. Annabeth and I dive behind a small dirt hill as DMR rounds landed right where we had just been.

"I saw one DMR and one sniper." She told me as she rolled over and pulled back the slide on one of her pistols to check the amo.

As she did so I popped up a little and sprayed some rounds down range to try and suppress them a little but was knocked on my ass as a sniper round connected with my helmet. And I blacked out when my head hit the floor.

When I came too I was lying on a small dirt hill in the forest. I looked around and fond Annabeth sitting next to me, and a little board judging by her posture.

"Didn't I tell you not to get shot?" She chastised as I groaned and sat up.

"How am I moving?" I asked. "I thought the sim rounds lock up your armor when your hit."

"The round damaged your helmet but missed your head." She said. "You got lucky….No pun intended."

I laughed as I looked around for our squad.

"Where is every one?" I asked.

"Securing the flag." She answered. "You've been out for about a half hour."

I nodded.

"So let's get moving." I said as I stood up. "Witch way?"

"Luke ordered you to rest for the rest of this mission." She informed me.

"Well I'm not going to miss all the fun." I told her. "Now which way?"

She studied me for a moment through her helmet before speaking.

"South east of here, just follow the river."

I nodded and began to walk with her at my side.

Time Break!

As we approached the flag sight we could hear gun fire.

"We need to find a way to out flank them." Annabeth said as we saw their lines for the first time. They had troops on both sides of the river and the flag was on an island in the center of it. "I got to hand it to them though. They know how to set up defenses."

"Who are they?" I asked

"Barracks 6." She said. "Some of the best strategists in camp. Put together because most squads couldn't deal with all the big words they tend to use. Started a lot of fights. I was in their squad for a while."

"Why'd you switch?" I asked her.

She was silent for a minute as she watched them.

"Luke took over Barracks 3 and offered me a spot on his team." She said. "We've been friends for years and promised each other that if either of us became squad leader we would look out for the other. He gave me my pistols you know."

I nodded.

"Sounds like a good guy." I said.

She nodded.

"But right now," She began sounding all business. "We need to break that line."

It was here that I got an idea.

"They're only guarding the river banks." I said. "We can swim right up to the flag."

"They'll see u a mile away." Annabeth said. No way will we make it."

"It's too dark out to see through the water." I pointed out. "We could swim below the water."

She thought before answering.

"This armor is designed for recon, not space or water, so air retention is minimal. We'd run out of air before we get to the island and we'd get shot if we came up for air."

"I'm pretty good at holding my breath." I said.

She just shook her head.

"You got a better plan?" I asked.

She thought about it before shaking her head.

"They got that place locked down too tight to get into." She said. "I'm not that great at holding my breath so I'm not going but I'll cover you if you get into trouble."

I nodded as I dove into the river.

About four minutes after my O2 alarm went off and I began to hold my breath. A few minutes after that I saw the outline of the island in front of me. I continued to swim, struggling to hold my breath until I was in waist high water. That is when I stood up and raised my rifle to shoot the squad from Barracks 6 I the backs. At this point they had two choices, turn to fight me and get shot by the rest of my squad that they were currently fighting or try and run for cover and probably get shot any way.

Needless to say the rest of the battle was quick work and in a few minutes I was standing on the island with the rest of my squad as we cheered and raised the captured flag.

Time break!

Once we got back to the camp we all went to the armory to get our armor repaired from the various dings and dents.

As I pulled off my helmet I looked to my right to see a Spartan in grey armor walk over to me. She had blond hair and grey eyes. Her armor was so bland that there wasn't any identifiable marks on it to clue me in to who it was, until she spoke.

"Well, I wasn't expecting you to pull that one off." Annabeth commented. "Nice job using the river."

I smiled.

"I'm just glad it worked." I said with a chuckle as I handed in my helmet to get repaired.

"Still," She began with a smile on her face. "It won us the match so good work. You might just make it here after all."

I nodded as a Spartan with blond hair and a scar on his cheek approached us.

"Nice job, Lucky." Luke told me. "Looks like we have a fish on our team."

It was here that he smiled and walked over to Beckendorf. (Sorry, still can't spell it.)

A few minutes later when I got my helmet back I was surprised to see a green trident spray-painted on the top front right part of it.

"Welcome to the team." Luke said as he passed me.

I turned to see Annabeth smiling at me.

"What's with the trident?" I asked her, pointing to my helmet.

"Luke has something spray-painted onto all the helmets in his squad." She told me. "Something that gives you more of an identity then the stupid numbers. I have an owl, he has a winged shoe, Nico has a skull, Will has a red cross, so on and so forth." She paused. "Now you have the trident."

A MESSAGE FROM THE AUTHOR: Well? Like it? Then post a review. The more reviews the faster I update.


	3. Chapter 3

A MESSAGE FROM THE AUTHOR: Well, here's the next chapter. Thank you to the people who reviewed this story, it means a lot to me to know what people think.

Before I start I am a big fan of the halo video games but have yet to read the books so I'm pretty much making this shit up as I go. All I know about the time line of the halo universe is the time gaps between reach, halo 1, halo 2, halo 3, and halo 4, and halo 5. I do not know much about events outside that so I'm sorry if this goes against anything cannon but this is my fanfiction so just sit back and enjoy the ride.

Enjoy!

Chapter 3: A New Enemy

POV: Lucky

It's been almost six years since I was transferred to this unit. Six years and I've learned more than most marines do in six decades. Our unit is the best in the camp. In the six years I've been here, we've only lost one capture the flag game. We've also set records in obstacle courses and training exercises.

Our success is attributed to Luke. He's the best commander we could have asked for. He understands our struggles and still pushes us to want to do better. He knows just saying "Do better" Will only exasperate us and force a divide between him and the squad so he says things like. "That was a good try." To which we would say "But we failed."

He then will shrug and ask if we know what we did wrong. If we say yes, he suggests we work on it. If we say no, he offers a different point of view that might explain what went wrong. He never tells us that we messed up or just to do better. He actually inspires the squad to try to be the best, not for victory but for each other. So that when the day comes that we swap our sim round for live fire, we know that our partners have our backs and they know that we have theirs.

He would always tell us "The brass aren't going to watch your back when the led starts flying. So we need to watch out for each other. The only people in the universe who will ever give a dam if you live or not are right here in this room. Just remember that. No matter what happens we stick together and do whatever it takes to bring us all home in one piece."

We thought it was touching that he would say this but we would also chuckle a little at the thought of small rebellion forces here and there managing to kill one of us.

We were raised and augmented for combat. We lived for it, and no farmer who hates taxes was going to take us out.

If we had known just what lay ahead we would have been trembling with fear.

The day we found out was a normal day. I was sitting next to Annabeth in the mass hall, eating what the camp called food, when it happened.

"I still say that a left flank leap frog, one two, fire formation is the best option in that scenario." Annabeth said as she took a bite of her rations.

"We won didn't we?" I pointed out as I stuck my fork into my rations. "So what's the difference? Luke made a call that you didn't agree with but we won."

"But Will went down and so did Jason." Annabeth said while waving here fork around like she was pointing things out on a chart. "If we used my plan I don't think they would have been hit."

"Oh come on!" I chuckled. "We both know there is no way to predict what will happen in a fight. Maybe your plan was better and maybe not. The point is we won."

"What if that was live fire?" Annabeth asked. "If those rounds were real then Will and Jason would be dead."

I didn't know how to respond to that. We were training for actual combat. If that was a real mission then two of my friends would be dead right now.

"Annabeth, we're not going to be fighting Spartans in the field." I pointed out. "It's most likely going to be some pissed off farmer, so cut Luke a break. I doubt a farmer could have stood a chance against that formation."

She just shrugged.

"Maybe." She said slowly. "But that doesn't mean we don't give it our best every time."

I nodded in agreement.

"Of course it doesn't." I told her.

She looked like she was about to say something hen the Colonel's voice came over the P.A. system.

"Will the C.O. of barracks three, pleases report to my office."

I glanced up at the speaker in the roof.

"What does he want to talk to Luke for?" Annabeth asked.

"Probably just a debriefing on our last training run." I said as I took another bite.

"If that were true, he wouldn't use the P.A." Annabeth said. "This is something big."

A few minutes later Luke came around and gathered the squad and told us to report to the mission briefing room.

"But we just finished a mission." Jason said, looking confused.

"Just go check in." Luke said as he walked away. "I'll explain there."

Time Break!

POV: Lucky

We were gathered around the hollo table, waiting for Luke to give us the training mission, when Colonel Chiron and Luke entered the room.

We all snapped to attention the moment we spotted Chiron.

"At ease." The Colonel ordered.

We all relaxed a little as he approached the table.

"I'm sure you're all wondering why you're here." He began. "Last night a UNSC frigate went dark. We assumed it was a rebel attack so we sent three frigate and a pillar to fend off the attackers. What we found was beyond what any of us could comprehend."

He tapped the controls on the table and a hologram sprang to life of the table.

It was a still image of three ships that I couldn't recognize flying amongst the debris of a

UNSC frigate.

"Sir, What kind of ship is that?" Annabeth asked.

The colonel just shook his head.

"After engaging the ships, and failing to destroy them, only one of our frigates made it back to report what they had found." The Colonel said. "We thought it was advanced technology that we would need Spartans in order to try and retrieve data on them but then this morning things became more complicated."

The typed on the controls again and the hologram changed to a video of a city, nestled in a valley by a lake. It was clearly a hand held camera, probably a tourist.

The laughter and conversations on the hologram quickly turned to screams of fear as explosions could be heard off screen. Then the image shifted and one of the ships from the still shot came into view, firing purple light that exploded on impact.

"That isn't any type of ammo I've ever seen." Annabeth whispered to me.

I nodded in agreement as the recording continued to show several smaller, still odd looking, ships deploying out of the center of the large one. They descended to the planet's surface as the sides opened up to let the occupants out about ten feet above the ground.

Several short, hunch backed, figures jumped from the ship as well as one really tall one.

There was more scrams and the camera went shaky as the person filming attempted to run away. Over all the commotion a loud roar could be heard.

Then the camera spun around to see a figure at least six or seven feet tall, stocking towards the person with the camera.

"What the hell is that?!" Will exclaimed when he saw the figure.

No one answered.

The figure pulled out a small, mettle, bar and held it out to the side. Instantly two prongs of glowing light appeared as the camera shifted. The person holding it had apparently tripped and fallen over backwards.

Eventually the camera re angled to see the figure looming over it, the smoke filled shy in the background. It stared right at the camera from under its helmet and opened its mouth to let out a roar. Its jaw split open as it did so and the person with the camera attempted to scramble away.

There was a swishing noise and a blood curtailing scream. Then the footage cut to black.

There was silence for a moment before the Colonel spoke.

"I think it's obvious that this is not a small rebellion force we are dealing with but a hostel, alien, race." He began. "The city the attack took place in was Hearth, one of our colonies on Nantoon. (AN: Completely made that shit up. I have no idea of any planet in halo other than the ones in the games and I want to make this one more original.)" He paused. "Your unit is to recon the aria and try and find out exactly what we are up against. You will be the first troops we deploy against these things so we have no advice on how they operate or where to aim your weapons to kill them. Your orders are to get into the city, locate any survivors and evacuate them if possible, find the Aliens that did this if you can and find out as much as you can about their ranks, numbers, tactics, weapons, and so forth. Are we clear?"

We all nodded except for Annabeth.

"Sir?" She began. "Do we know why they attacked?"

The colonel shook his head.

"We tried making contact but the only response we receive is them firing on us." He said. "Anything else?"

"Rules of engagement?" I asked.

"Only fire if you have to." Chiron ordered. "You're the only unit being deployed and I doubt we could get back up to you if something were to go wrong."

I nodded.

Chiron looked around before continuing.

"You're going to be airdropped ten clicks from the city tomorrow morning so grab your gear and report to Pelican 2235 to be transported to the Pillar Enterprise." Chiron said. "You flight leaves in one hour."

And with that we left to gather our gear, not believing we were being diploid to fight aliens. I felt like this was some kind of a sick joke.

A MESSAGE FROM THE AUTHOR: Well? Like it? Then post a review to let me know you want more. The more reviews per chapter the higher on my update priority list the story becomes.


	4. Chapter 4

A MESSAGE FRPOM THE AUTHOR: So inspired right now! Hope you like it!

Chapter 4: Project Delphi

POV: Lucky

We had just arrived on the Pillar Enterprise when we were pulled off to another briefing with the captain of the ship.

"What's this about?" I demanded as Annabeth shot me a glare that meant she wanted me to shut up.

"This is about the real mission." The captain began as another officer entered the room.

The woman that entered was wearing an ONI uniform and had a hologram disk in her hand.

"Hello Spartans." She greeted as she activated the hollo table and pulled up a file of an ONI tower. "This was the ONI research facility in Hearth. It was over run during the initial invasion. On the top floor was a new AI that was being developed for the fleet's pillars. It would handle all the sub routines and even some of the larger ones so the we can risk less lives on the ships and the few people on board can focus on fighting rather then things like air flow and fuel."

"Sounds useful." Luke commented.

"Oh, it will be." She said with a smile. "I designed it myself. I based it off my brain scans to ensure it has the right intentions."

"Who are you exactly?" I asked her as Annabeth shot me a death glare.

"Dr. Halsey." She responded shortly. "My name is Dr. Halsey."

Every one stared in shock.

She had created us, the Spartans. She was the reason we were who we were. Now she was asking us to do a mission for her.

I felt conflicted on this.

She had made me so strong but took my childhood and my whole future away but did so to save lives. I was struggling with how I should feel.

"The AI must be saved." She told us. "It's called Cortana and it is the most promising, ship board, AI we have made to date."

"We'll get it for you, mam." Luke assured her with a nod.

She gave him a nod.

"Good." She said. "This is priority one. If the aliens get their hands on this AI it could end us all."

We all nodded.

"Now," She began. "I must ask that Spartans 311 and 333 accompany me to med bay four."

Annabeth and I eyed each other, a little on edge, and followed her from the room.

"What's this about?" I demanded as I followed the doctor down the hall.

"I'll tell you in med bay four." She assured me as Annabeth shot me a death glare.

"Shut up, Lucky." Annabeth whisper growled in my ear. "She could have you shot if you piss her off."

Was that why she was taking us away? To kill us?

When we got to the med bay we were met by another ONI woman with red hair and green eyes.

"This is the Spartan I requested?" She asked, turning to Annabeth and I.

"Yes." Halsey answered.

"Then I'll take it from here." The red head said. "Thank you Dr. Halsey."

Halsey nodded and left.

"My name's Rachel Elisabeth Dare." The red head introduced herself. "I'm the lead worker of Project Delphi, an advanced AI program designed to help Spartans in combat to fight more efficiently."

"We heard, mam." Annabeth began. "Crotona sounds amazing."

Rachel scoffed.

"That's Halsey's AI for the fleet." She said. "It's only deigned to interface with hardware but project Delphi is surgically implanted to assist the troops by taking over root functions like heart rate, kidneys, digestion and other functions to make the trooper more combat capable. Faster, stronger, and smarter. It combines it's processing capabilities and knowledge with the trooper's intuition and human ability to adapt despite the absurd logic and make a perfect Spartan."

"This thing stuck in Hearth too?" I asked. "Dam, talk about putting all your eggs in one basket."

"RED is not in Hearth." She assured me.

"RED?" Annabeth asked.

"RED was the first success we had but it took a bit too much of the original host's personality and will only respond to her name or nickname."

"Who was the host?" I asked, confused on why they called this thing red.

"Me." Rachel said. "Rachel Elizabeth Dare. R. E. D."

I nodded and turned to Annabeth to make sure she was following. She seemed to be. At least one of us is.

"Why are we here?" I asked after a moment.

Rachel smiled.

"Your team is about to face a threat like no other." She said. "I wish to give your team the tools it needs to survive."

"You should talk to Luke then." I said. "We're just the grunts of the group."

My comment was rewarded with an elbow to the arm from Annabeth. Even with the armor on it still hurt and almost made me drop my helmet.

"I was given approval from Halsey to install my best AI into one of her Spartans." Rachel continued. "So I had RED go over the files of all the Spartans to select a Spartan to be her new host. Your fire team's record jumped out at her. Along with personality profiles. There is one other reason though." She paused for a moment. "The AI must remain safe. It cannot be captured under any circumstances." She paused. "Spartan 311 you are smart, fast, an excellent shot and a natural leader." She turned to me. "You, Spartan 333 are strong, impulsive, brave, and lucky. The pair of you make for a good team so I know the AI will be of good use to you two and it is for that reason that your squad was picked for this mission."

"So we're getting AIs?" I asked in shock.

"No." Rachel answered. "Only one of you will. RED has already made a choice but wanted her to meet her Spartan before being implanted to make sure that it was the right choice."

"And I believe it is." Came Rachel's voice from a hollo monitor on the wall to my right.

Then it flickered and a, red, holographic version of Rachel appeared on the wall.

"We should begin the operation immediately." RED stated. "I'll shut down for transfer."

The hologram shut off as the Annabeth spoke.

"I volunteer." She said and began to walk to the surgery table as Rachel put an arm out to stop her.

"As I stated earlier." She began. "RED has chosen her Spartan and she Chose Spartan 333."

I stared at her in shock.

"Me?" I asked. "Why?"

Annabeth was shooting me a look now. It was a glare like I had just stabbed her in the back.

"Like you said," Annabeth began. "He's impulsive. That might not end well."

'Thanks!' I thought sarcastically.

"But he will fight to the end to protect her." Rachel said. "It's his one weakness, to never give up on friends."

"Wouldn't it be wiser to instill an AI in a leader?" She asked.

"And its moments like this that RED rejected you despite my trying to get her to see otherwise." Rachel said. "You are too prideful, Spartan 311. It could get you killed but even worse it might drive you to let her get captured instead of destroying her."

"How would I destroy her if she's implanted in my head?" Annabeth demanded. "This makes no sense!"

"Yes it does." I said somberly.

"Then how?!" Annabeth screamed at me. "The stupid thing wants you to rip it out or what?"

I shook my head and pulled out a spare amo mag that I had on my belt and held it up.

"With this." I said. "They can't use it if the host is dead."

Rachel nodded sadly.

"RED thought you were not only driven enough to fight and survive but loyal enough to die if the mission called for it." Rachel said.

I nodded and walked past a stunned Annabeth to the operating table and laid down.

"Just make sure I'm out solid." I said. "Augmentation hurt bad enough, I don't want to be awake for another one."

As doctors came over and put a mask over my mouth I turned to see Annabeth standing next to me with her hand on my shoulder as she smiled down at me with a tear running down her face.

"You better wake up." She warned me. "If you die on this table I'm going to kill you."

I laughed weakly as the gasses filled my lungs from the mask.

"Sounds good." I told her as I blacked out.

When I came to I was too groggy to open my eyes.

"Take it easy." I heard Rachel tell me. "You've been out for two hours."

I groaned and nodded.

My head was killing me.

"He's awake!" I could hear Annabeth shouting.

"Oh, good." Rachel said. "Spartan 333, can you hear me?"

I nodded again, not opening my eyes.

"Is RED functioning?" She asked.

"Tell her that I am." Rachel's voice answered her own question.

My eyes snapped open.

"What?" I asked and looked around.

"Is RED functioning?" Rachel asked me.

"Just tell her I'm fine." Her voice was saying at the exact same time.

It was too much, I felt like I was going crazy and my head was killing me.

I sat up and clutched my head.

"Take it easy, you're still recovering." Rachel's voice said.

"Spartan 333, please answer the question." The Rachel standing next to me ordered.

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" I shouted. "Both of you!"

The Rachel next to me paused before smiling.

"Both?" She asked. "You hear another one of me?"

I nodded, grateful that she didn't answer herself again.

"Then RED is working!" She cheered. "The other me you her is her. It's RED talking to you."

I paused in shock.

The AI was in me! It was actually in me and could talk to me!

Then a red hologram appeared in front of me.

It was a digital Rachel that I recognized as RED.

"Holy shit!" I cried out in surprise. "You can still do that?"

She shook her head as Rachel and Annabeth exchanged looks.

Rachel began to ask me questions but I raised a hand to silence her so RED could speak without confusing me.

"Only you can see and hear me." She told me. "My name's RED and you are Lucky. It's good to finally meet you in person."

"Nice to meet you too." I told her. "But why can't they see you?"

"I'm projecting myself into you're vision not into the real world." She told me. "It's not like I'm hooked up to your armor's hollo projector, I'm in your head. You should totally ask by the way." She said with a smirk.

"Ask what?" I asked her, very confused.

"You know what." She said before frowning. "Huh, you really don't know. We'll maybe you'll remember the dream some time but until then I won't spoil it."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, getting very confused.

"Lucky?" Annabeth asked, taking a step closer. "What's going on in that head of yours?"

RED started to laugh.

"What's so funny?" I demanded, addressing the A.I.

"From their point of view it looks like your talking to yourself." She said. "Sorry, but that's funny."

I groaned as Annabeth spoke again.

"What did that A.I. do to him?" She demanded. "He's not responding to anything we say and he's talking to himself!"

"I can hear you." I said to her. "And I'm not talking to myself, I'm talking to the weird A.I. person that's in my skull now."

"I'm not weird!" Red protested as Annabeth opened her mouth to speak.

"So, what's it like?" Annabeth asked me. "Do you feel any different?"

I shook my head.

"Not really." I said.

Just then everything slowed down as I found myself looking around the room in normal time. Everything around me was moving so slowly they might as well have been standing still.

"Wha…?" I began as RED cut in.

"This is the perks of having me with you." She said, still projecting herself into my eyes. "We share thoughts and rudimentary functions on such a level that you can access my processing speeds on demand, allowing you to take in all that is happening much quicker but from our point of view time is slowing down."

"This is how you see the world?" I asked in surprise.

"Nope." She said. "It's usually much slower for me but having you access my processing unit is slowing my systems down."

"Holly crap." I muttered. "And I can move like this? Will it hurt me to move at these speeds?"

"I can override your muscle control and use your thoughts to allow you to move quicker for short periods of time but if it lasts too long we risk serious injury to your body." She said. "That being said your augmentation should help you withstand the effects of moving and processing things at the speed of an A.I."

It was at this point time sped up to normal.

"We'll, that's a shame." Annabeth said once time had returned to normal.

"Annabeth!" I screamed out in excitement. "RED just slowed everything down using some sport of processor thing and time was at almost a stand still!"

"What?" She asked in disbelief.

"Oh, good!" Rachel cheered, clapping her hands together. "She let your brain access her processors so you perceived time passing at such a high rate that it appeared to slow down, we were hoping that would work! What about the muscle hijacking?"

"Muscle hijacking?" Annabeth demanded, looking worried.

"RED can take over motor-control of Spartan 333's muscles to slow down or speed up their movements based on how fast she can send signals to them." Rachel explained. "So in combat it is possible for Spartan 333 to move at incredible speeds until his muscles wear out from too much use in such a small amount of time." She turned to me. "You must be careful not to over use it or the intense speeds might kill you."

"Yah," I began. "Red mentioned something about that."

And so time seemed to get away from us. Eventually Annabeth suggested we grab twenty before we arrive at Nantoon.

As I climbed into my bunk and shut my eyes I could hear RED going over statistics in the background.

"Can you be quiet?" I asked her. "I'm trying to sleep here."

"RED won't shut up?" Annabeth asked from her bunk across the walkway as she shut her eyes to get some rest.

I nodded.

"Not easy to adjust to having two people in your head." I said.

"Sorry." RED said. "I'll power down for a while."

"No problem." I told her. "I'm gona shut down for a while too."

Time Break!

"Get moving!" RED screamed in my head. "Now!"

My eyes snapped open to see the emergency lights were lit and an alarm was blaring.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"The Captain announced battle stations, apparently we have an enemy ship on our six and according to my sensors it's gaining on us." She said. "We'll be in drop range in fifteen minutes so grab your gear."

Just then Annabeth came running in.

"We're under attack!" She screamed.

"One ship on our six and closing." I cut her off as I scrambled to my locker. "Drop's in fifteen minutes."

"How…" Annabeth began.

"Red told me." I said as I grabbed my AR and sprinted past Annabeth to the loading dock.

Once there we boarded a pelican and took our seats amongst the squad.

"Where the hell have you two been?" Luke demanded as I locked myself into my seat.

"Sorry." Annabeth said. "Lucky was sleeping and I went for a walk to try and calm myself down."

Luke shook his head and took a seat.

Then there was a lurch as we took off and the back ramp sealed to keep the air in the ship.

There was a lot of bouncing as the Pelican dodged enemy fire and a lurch as we plowed into the atmosphere.

'Shit!' My mind screamed. 'Keep it together!'

"Statistically speaking you're more likely to die in actual combat then in a drop ship crash." RED intoned, picking up on my fear.

"Not helping." I growled back at her.

"You're fine, Lucky." Annabeth whispered to me. "We've been through this a thousand times. I'm right here for you."

I nodded my thanks to her as the ship shuddered again under fire.

The interior lighting then turned red as the ramp lowered.

"Get ready!" Luke called out. "We jump on my mark!"

I stood up shoulder to shoulder with Annabeth, ready for whatever came next.

The light turned green and look shouted "Move!"

Two by two the whole squad jumped out the back of the ship, Annabeth and I jumped last.

As we fell I saw purple light all around us, illuminating the sky.

"Watch that fire!" Luke called over the mic.

"Copy that!" Jason called, rolling to his left to dodge a purple light.

Nico wasn't so lucky. He swerved to his left to dodge a shot but was hit by a second one, directly in the chest.

"Ah!" He screamed out as his mic went dead.

His fall became erratic and it was clear he wasn't conscious anymore.

"Nico!" Will screamed. Angling his fall to try and intercept the Spartan.

"Deploy the packs!" Luke screamed out, firing his jetpack.

The whole squad followed suit but will hesitated, not wanting to leave Nico to die.

"He's gone Will!" Annabeth called out. "And even if he's not the armor will lock up so he'll be ok!"

Will nodded and fired his pack, closely followed by Annabeth.

"Don't you dare!" RED screamed in my head. "I recognize that thought pattern! There's two of us in here now!"

I ignored her, intent on doing what I always do in drops.

"Lucky!" Annabeth screamed after me. "Don't do this! Not now!"

Again I ignored the advice, deploying my pack so I stopped a foot above the ground.

"You almost got us killed!" RED screamed at me.

"You picked me." I responded. "That means you deal with me and all my habits."

I looked up to see where my squad was. I figured I had thirty seconds before they landed so I scanned the aria.

I was standing in a backyard on the outskirts of the city. There weren't any aliens here but I was feeling uneasy, like I was being watched.

"RED," I began as I heard my squad's packs landing in the aria. "Scan for lifeforms."

"On it." She replied.

"Lucky, come in." Annabeth's voice came over the radio. "I'm on our Privet line, I thought you said you wouldn't do that anymore! I get your scared but getting yourself killed won't fix that."

"What ever happened to the armor will save us?" I questioned.

"We both know that Will wouldn't have left Nico if I hadn't said it." She said, in a warning tone. "Nico was dead, Will wasn't. I'm not going to apologies for trying to save Will."

"I'm in a back yard." I told her, not knowing how to respond to her words.

"Same place you landed?" Annabeth asked me.

"Yup." I responded.

"Then stay put." She said. "I'm on my way to you."

And so I crouched down behind a shed and aimed my weapon at the one entrance to the yard, incase an Alien came.

Nothing came.

"Life form approaching." RED warned after a few minutes. "Wait, it's Annabeth."

Sure enough the, her grey armor emerged from around the corner.

"You promised me you would stop doing that." She said as I emerged from behind the shed. "One of these days you're going to botch it and go splat!"

"I promise to stop every time we jump." I told her. "I'm sorry but I can't stay up there."

"Listen to her." RED intoned. "I'd like to survive too."

"Not now RED." I grumbled.

Annabeth shook her head.

"We should get moving." She said. "After you went HALO jumping (High Altitude Low Opening, look it up, it's a real thing!) the squad took heavy fire and scattered on landing."

"Give me a second." I told her as I put a finger to my helmet. "Luke, I'm with Annabeth. What's our orders?"

No reply.

"Jason?" I tried. "Come in."

Again, nothing.

"Barracks three, come in!" I said, putting anger into my voice.

"Coms are dead." Annabeth said. "I already tried. I guess we're lucky our fire team line still works."

"Yah, not luck." RED said. "I sensed a radio jammer nearby but was able to shield the fire team line from it."

"RED says she was able to shield our line from a radio jammer nearby." I told Annabeth. "So I guess we know what our first priority is."

She nodded.

"Re-establish coms and find the squad." She said. "Then we retrieve the A.I. and gather intel on the enemy."

I nodded in agreement.

"Two Spartans and an A.I. take on an army of advanced Aliens." I said with a nod. "This should be fun." I say with sarcasm.

A MESSAGE FROM THE AUTHOTR: Like it? Then post a review to let me know you want more.


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